Eco uproar could finally smother Wild Coast sand mining
TOUGH conditions imposed by the Department of Mineral Resources have increased the likelihood that controversial plans to mine 21km of sand dunes along the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape will never see the light of day. However, the CEO of the company seeking a mining licence has said the conditions were not unusually onerous.
Last month, a regional manager of mineral regulation at the department accepted the scoping report submitted by Transworld Energy and Minerals (TEM), a local subsidiary of Australia-based Mineral Resource Commodities.
But the department attached 24 conditions to the acceptance of the scoping report, designed to protect the environment and communities that would be affected by the planned mining.
Mining sources have said that the conditions were so onerous that they were tantamount to a rejection of the proposed plan.
Fourteen of the conditions relate to water, including the need for TEM to assess the possible impact on the rural community of the drawdown of natural spring water, “especially during dry periods and the subsequent impact on communities, stock watering and wetland systems”.
In addition, “detailed protection and mitigation measures are required to ensure that surface and ground water quality is maintained by addressing potential pollution aspects”.
The conditions also require TEM to submit plans for the upgrade of roads so that they can accommodate 30- to 40-ton trucks, and a 25-year comparative study on the relative benefits of mining and ecotourism.
But TEM CEO Mark Caruso dismissed such concerns, saying these were the sorts of conditions usually attached to acceptance of scoping reports.
TEM must submit an environmental impact assessment to the authorities by September 21 — yet residents say they intend blocking the necessary access to the consultants and employees.
The community, led by the Amadiba Crisis Committee, are long-term opponents of TEM’s efforts to mine on the Wild Coast. The community have said that the project would generate only a few low-quality jobs and, because of the damage to the environment, would destroy the fledgling eco-tourism industry.
The crisis committee was instrumental in the 2011 decision by then mineral resources minister Susan Shabangu to withdraw a licence granted to TEM in 2008. The licence would have allowed TEM to mine what has been described as one of the most valuable sources of mineral sands in the world, at Xolobeni on the Wild Coast.
Committee members said evidence that emerged in a recent case at the Cape Town High Court reinforced their concerns.
The civil case was brought by Blastrite CEO Andrew Lashbrooke, a former business partner of Caruso, who hoped to prevent one of Caruso’s local companies, Mineral Sands Resources (MSR), from selling the garnet offtake generated by its mine on the west coast, about 400km north of Cape Town.
Lashbrooke, who was CEO of MSR until September last year, said the garnet rights were due to Blastrite as payment for loans and services rendered. Caruso’s legal team contended there was no exclusive offtake agreement.
The legal action has thrown the spotlight on MSR’s mining activity along theWestern Cape coastline, with allegations that the company has removed tens of thousands of tons of garnets and ilmenite without the appropriate approval. This included extending its operation footprint, stockpiling radioactive materials on the beach, building a jetty and contaminating the underground water supply.
The compliance and enforcement directorate of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape has confirmed that it did not grant approval for expansions undertaken by MSR.
There were also allegations that trucks transporting zircon to Cape Town and Saldanha had damaged hundreds of kilometres of minor roads to avoid monitored main roads.
Caruso denied he had contravened conditions of his licence to mine in the Western Cape. He also said all haulage was done by subcontractors, including local contractors, on the public road system.
“The design, construction and maintenance of roads and transport routes used by the respective haulage subcontractors is under the authority of the Western Cape government.
“The company is not aware of any breaches by any of its contractors in relation to transport of its products on any routes,” Caruso said.
Detailed measures are required to maintain water quality